The present invention relates to a novel and useful alerting mechanism integrated with a hand-held whistle.
Hand-held whistles are typically used in sporting events by arbiters or referees controlling the directional and flow of the sporting activity. Recent rule changes have been instituted in many sports to speed up the game being played. For example, in basketball, the jumpball situation has been eliminated by alternating possession between the opposing teams. It is, thus, a responsibility of the referee to keep track of the next possessor of the ball when a jumpball situation occurs.
Unfortunately, the referee in most sports, such as a basketball game, is required to be intimately involved with the game and to make numerous decisions concerning other aspects of the game. Remembering the team entitled to possession in a jumpball situation is often forgotten, requiring others to ascertain such status, which results in delaying the playing of the game and uncertainty.
An alerting device which reminds a referee in a game as to a future action, such as entitlement of ball possession and the like, would be a notable advance in the sports field.